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Might seem like a stupid question; interested in the process involved in choosing a house design to “fit” a building lot and properly siting it. Every once in a while I see a house that just seems to sit properly where it has been built. Who’s responsible?
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blue... if you owned a property for many years ..and you knew it's moods and settings.. you could probably do a good job of siting a home...
other than that.. architects are trained in the job.. some are better than others..
and good designers come by the knowledge the way good artists do..by honing their craft..
alas.. most lots are so small.. and zoning so restrictive that the options just don't exist for most sites...
but i know what you mean... when you see a good one , it jumps right out at you..
*I think a lot of it is intuitive. Many of the older homes I've worked on were well sited in respect to solar orientation. Fewer windows and less exposure of house to the north side. Ocasionally this can conflict with desired views. Time is money but it pays to walk the property and even climb a tree or two ......... views can change dramatically as you go up ........ or sit down and your view is cut off by a too small window. To me, siting is the most difficult part of of the design process and in some ways, the most important, epecially in my neck of the woods where house lots begin at 2 or 3 acres. There's a small cottage I occasionally work on. It's not impressive when you walk up to it but when you step inside-whoa! It takes full advantage of the site and the views. You might find Christopher Alexander's "A Pattern Language" useful.
*Blue- Perhaps one of the very first questions a designer(Architect) will ask in siting a house on a piece of land is: "Where does the water go?"
*into the basement on a few I've seen, Ken.
*We were lucky enough to have had the opportunity to actually site our house on the property. To say that it makes a difference is an understatement. We built the house with the site as foremost in our mind. We were lucky. Course this is a home where I to this day can't tell you where the front of the house is. The side is easy to figure out. And I guess the back would be where the front isn't. So to answer your question, my wife, I, and a cpl other goofballs take full responsibility.
*I thought I knew where I wanted the house. However when I talked the pro's and cons over with my builder it was clear to me that there were grade issues and elevations that had to be considered. My builder has an eye for this sort of thing. Esthetics are nice , but the basement needs to stay dry and extensive grading is expensive.Frank
*You bet Frank. I'm talking the whole enchilada. Siting for you and for the benefits/limitations of the site. We were real lucky. The acre and a qtr site in the woods in the city gave us the opportunity. On a regular lot we woulda been limited.
*jcallahan, you're right about "A Pattern Language". It's pretty dense reading, but after finishing it I realized that a LOT of modern design theory is either based specifically on that book or on the same ideas that book is based on. Sarah Susanka's books draw heavily from ideas I found in A Pattern Language. A lot of Feng Shui principles overlap with it as well. Awesome book.
*I think part of it is the way the building blends with its surroundings, too - whether it dominates the property, or harmonizes with it. I sure hope some architects get involved in this thread.
*I had and architect and a builder over last week, neither had ever been over my house before, so we shared a few beers while our kids played and had a discussion about this same subject...how the site affects the structure.When we (bride and I) originally designed our current house, we didn't live in CT. When we moved out here and found this lot, the house layout did change. While the floorplan still retains much of the original intent, we changed a few things around based upon the location, the neighbors, and our own lot.The location (CT) and the nature of the lot (wooded) changed the exterior of the house. It morphed into a colonial, and where my wife always wanted a brightly painted house...yellow or white...it was totally inappropriate for this lot. If the house were set back 50' fron Main Street, maybe...but for our lot we ended up with a very deep, forresty-type of green. It blends in well with the nature of the lot, which is wooded. The house is set about 700' back from the street and isn't visible from the street.The neighbors...even with an interior lot, we wanted the house further back from the water. As it is, it's about 300' from the lake. However, had we set the house as far back as we wanted, when sitting on the patio in our back (lakeside) yard, we would have been looking at the neighbor's house which was closer to the lake. So, we scooted the house towards the lake about another 100' and rotated it slightly towards the southwest, away from the neighbor's house. The back (lakeside) wall of our house now faces about 195 to 200-degrees magnetic, instead of true south. Now a real big deal in solar orientation...but a tremendous deal in obscuring the neighbor's place.On the interior, we did change a couple of minor things in terms of layout to better accomodate the land and lake views. I would have preferred more windows to take advantage of views...my wife wanted fewer.We do have another neighbor, about 4 houses down. The lakeside of their house is three stories of white vinyl siding...facing west. It sticks out like a sore thumb, and looks like a glow-in-the-dusk beacon in the afternoon when the west-setting sun shines of the white vinyl monolith. We don't see it from our house, only if we're out on the lake.Even with the adjustments we made, we weren't smart or sensitive enough to take full advantage of nature's setting. Even with the changes we made, my house is still a chunk of a colonial...My wife and I, as well as many other prospective homeowners, still wanted what we wanted even if it wasn't 'best' for the setting. I think a lawer-sitting house...with a larger footprint...would have better suited this lot, but we put so much effort into the original plans that my wife really wanted what we had previously planned. I didn't mind, as keeping things for the most part as we had already planned made things simpler.As others have written, a good builder or a sensitive, realistic architect can do wonders to meld the building with the setting. I didn't use an architect in my house. Had I done so, I'm sure I would have a better looking house, as well as one that blends better with the setting.Still, I'm quite happy with it. As me Grampy used to say..."Could be worse!"
*WE are building a log home on 4 acres in the mountains above Denver. Our neighbors each have 5 acre lots. We spent a LOT of time on the lot fine tuning both the house location and design. We wanted privacy and views. We succeeded. We spent time on ladders and carefully examined the site in all seasons as well. After a certain amount of time spent there, the obvious building site emerged. It is oriented to catch a view of a 14K mountain in the middle of the great room window. You can't see the house from other roads, and our driveway is relatively flat.Our neighbors on the other hand, must have spent 5 minutes siting their house. They are as close to the edge of their lot as they are allowed to build (i.e. close to us, grrrrr), they are also VERY close to the other neighbor. Their driveway is steep, and they located their septic field right near the road so we all get to look at their sewer for the rest of our lives. I hope they move, but the damage is done.
*I like to spend a lot of time on a lot. Sleep there, check it out on windy days, sunny days, commute hour, etc. and write downs tons of info. I strive to use the house to create the best possible yard areas, and then design from the outside in. The house should improve the lot, not impose on it. Solar implications are the most important, but so are views and wind patterns and on. It is a lot of give and take. Hopefully the house should site on the ugliest part of the lot so as to preserve the best for the yard. I like this quote ..."A house is a garden with a place to go when it rains"
*I'm looking at a 6 acre wooded lot, loaded with nice big sugar maples. About 700 feet deep sloping moderately up from the road, south west exposure. There is a little knoll about 250 feet from the road that seems to be the obvious place for a house. The driveway concerns me a bit. How early in the process would it be reasonable to get the excavating guy out there for advice? Suggestions on house design sources? Pretty much sold on simple timber frame. I'm in upstate NY.
*Blue, have you considered placing the house just behind the knoll? It will feel protected from the road and you can enjoy the natural high spot instead of having it covered by a house.Landscape architects are the experts on where to place a house on the site. If placement is really important to you, I would consider hiring one for advice.Sounds like a nice spot.
*blue.. i don't think you're in florida anymore.. whassup ?and yeah.. bring in the excavator .. need a good eye for grades , rock strucutre, local knowledge,.. did i mention local knowledge..upstate NY... underlying ledge at about 18" glue,clay & sh*t on top.. swamp maples are shallow root.. don't know about sugar maples...find a digger who likes to talk... wait try and find one who doesn't, hah, hah, hahwhereabouts in Upstate?... vince is from dere, so is AJ..
*I don't think this Blue is the old Blue.
*duh.. i was thinkin that but was too lazy to go check the headers....oh, well... confusin is as confusin does... or some other gumpism
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Might seem like a stupid question; interested in the process involved in choosing a house design to "fit" a building lot and properly siting it. Every once in a while I see a house that just seems to sit properly where it has been built. Who's responsible?